The Missing Shard
by inume-kagoyasha
Summary: The daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome teams up with the son of Sango and Miroku when all of their parents are killed by a rogue demon.
1. Newborn

Chapter 1 - newborn

The baby opened its eyes for the first time ever, and they saw that his eyes were green. The pupils were slitted like a cat. The baby's fingers had claws, and she had small fangs in his mouth. Her ears were pointed, but like an elf. Not like Inuyasha.

"Oh, Inu, she's so cute," Kagome murmured.  
InuYasha just smiled and cradled his newborn daughter in his arms.

Suddenly, they heard evil laughter from behind the door. It swung open and Naraku came in!  
InuYasha handed the baby back to Kagome and crouched in fighting position.

"What are YOU doing here, Naraku?!" he spoke furiously, but softly so the baby wouldn't start to cry.

"Why, I'm here to take your daughter away! MWAHAHAHA!!!!" Naraku laughed.

"Never! I would sooner die than let you have my daughter!!" InuYasha shreeked.  
Naraku laughs some more.

"So be it, you little dog-eared bakaro!" Naraku shouted, and launched a viscous attack.  
InuYasha smirked and held his hand out in front of him. Naraku bounced off, as if he had hit an invisible rubber wall.  
"What's this trickery?!" he shouted, furious. "Where did you get this magic"  
Then InuYasha tranformed into a full demon! Attached to his collar was the full Shikon Jewel, which Kagome had given him once they found all the pieces.  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" Naraku shouted, and InuYasha blasted him into oblivion.  
InuYasha's daughter smiled.  
Kagome asked Inu, "What shall we name her"  
"Inume," Inuyasha responded without hesitation.  
"I love it! What a perfect name for our daughter!" Kagome cried happily.

The Shikon Jewel around InuYasha's neck appeared to be complete, but alas, there was one piece missing. A tiny speck of the jewel, that belonged in the exact center, was missing. Far, far away, a hand closed around this tiny speck, and the one who owned the hand laughed. She lauged for a long time, laughing at InuYasha's folly. With this, the strongest shard, she had the power to resist the power of the rest of the jewel.

12 years later  
"She's weaker than you were, Inuyasha," Kagome said to her husband. InuYasha nodded in agreement. They were watching their daughter, Inume, train with a sword. She was fighting against a lone, wild demon they had found wandering around the valley below the mountain they lived on. Two hours after Inume launched her first attack on the demon, the young girl was covered in sweat, and appeared to be losing the battle. It was a simple rabbit-demon that didn't have very much power. Even back before InuYasha had (most of) the shikon jewel, it would have taken him less than 30 minutes to defeat the monster. His daughter was losing after four times that much time. Finally Inume managed to swing the sword mightily, and the rabbit demon lay, slain, on the ground.  
"Father, mother, did you see me fight the demon?!" Inume shouted happily.  
"Yes, Inume. You did kill it. But you need more training. It shouldn't have taken you that long to defeat it." InuYasha told the girl. "I know it's hard for you, since you are only 1/4 demon, but you must try as hard as you can!  
"Can we go find a new demon to fight? I want to prove that I can do better!" Inume said eagerly.  
"No, Inume." InuYasha told him. "You are not ready. Continue with the easy rabbit demons until you can kill one in less than 30 minutes. Then try taking on two at once. Only then will you be ready to battle a weasel-demon.Think of it as something to fight for; something that drives you onward because you want it so badly"  
"Ok, father, I'm gonna win against another rabbit-demon! I'll win in under a minute! One day I'll even fight a dragon demon. Someday I'll even fight a pure demon!!" Inume told his father.  
"You will not! Even your father couldn't win against a full demon alone! He needed to the Shikon Jewel to even banish one. God knows what he'd need to destroy one!" Kagome told him. "You may eventually win against a dragon-demon, but pure demons are much more powerful"  
"Yeah," InuYasha agreed. "If you fight one of them, you will either die swiftly or die slowly, depending on the kind of mood the demon is in. It's no picnic fighting full demons. I've only ever fought one. The only reason I even escaped is because right at that moment, Kagome gave me the Shikon jewel. And you know that story through and through, forwards and backwards, upside-down, and in your sleep. With your hands tied behind your back"  
"Tell me again, father! Start at the part where you first saw Katara, the evil full demon"  
"Ok, Inume. One last time before you go. It all started when...." 


	2. InuYasha's story

Chapter 2 - InuYasha's story

It all started when...Miroku went on a holy pilgrimage, and Sango went with him. Shippo and Kilala went off hunting for dinner, and me and Kagome were all alone. A storm blew up, and the sky darkened. Kagome told me she was scared, so I held her closely and looked all around, trying to figure out what I was smelling. It had the smell of demon, but I couldn't tell what kind of demon. There was no other scent. Then I smelled something else. Wolf-demons!

("I love this part," Inume whispered.)

The wolf demons swarmed on us, and each of them had a tiny shard of the shikon jewel within them. Kagome shot at them with her arrows, and I attacked them with my fangs and claws. It was a hard battle, but amazingly we won! Then we realized we hadn't won. Someone, or something, had ordered the wolf-demons to retreat. There were still over 15 of them. Then their master showed her face. "Hello, you pitiful half-blood dog," came a voice from way above us.  
I looked up and strained my eyes. I could just barely make out the shape of a massive shadow. It was all claws and teeth and slit-pupil eyes. It was a shapeless mass of strength and intelligence. Then I knew. In front of me was a full demon. Not part animal, not part human. It was just pure demon.

"What is your name, foul demon?" I shouted.

"I am Katara!! Fear me!!" she shouted back.

"NO!!" I responded.

"Very well, half-blood. I'll get rid of you the hard way. I must have the Shikon Jewel." she told me.

Kagome shouted, "No way, you 8!(# you'll never have the jewel!!!!!"

I took that moment when Katara was distracted to destroy the rest of her foul wolf-demons. I took all their shards and gave them to Kagome. She put them all together and gave me the complete Shikon Jewel. I used it to make myself a full dog-demon, and I banished Katara to the farthest reaches of the universe. The few remaining half-demons that Katara hadn't destroyed came to me. They appointed me to be their ruler, and I took Kagome as my wife. Now, Inume, it is your turn to wield my sword and walk in my footsteps, for I fear that somehow Katara has escaped from her banishment!!! 


	3. New Life

Chapter 3 - New Life

"What?! Inume, in your footsteps? Your mantle is too heavy for her shoulders! Oh, InuYasha, why didn't you tell me before? Why didn't you tell me she may have escaped?" Kagome cried as InuYasha finished the story.

"How did she escape, father?" Inume asked.

"Because..." InuYasha paused. "...because this isn't the whole jewel. There is still one piece missing. The tiniest and strongest shard of all; the one that belongs in the exact center of the jewel. Without it, the jewel still has powers, but not enough. Soon I will not be full dog-demon anymore. It may even drain that away, so I will be only human. I fear for my life. You see, when I banished Katara, the last shard was near her, and I didn't realize it. Now, she has found it. And she's coming back."

"I will find her, father! I will destroy her!" Inume pronounced.

"I'm sorry, Inume. I'm proud of you. You're a fine girl. But you just aren't strong enough to fight someone like your mother, let alone a full-freakin-demon!!" InuYasha told his daughter.

"Inu?" Kagome said. "Maybe there is hope. I have news for you. I'm going to have another baby."

InuYasha went white as a sheet. "Really?" he asked in a strangled voice. "Oh, dear."

After recieving a scalding look from his wife, he added;

"That's wonderful!! But...it will be very hard to protect another child. What if he/she is even weaker than Inume?! I could defeat most small animal-demons by the age of 5. But not every child we have will be that strong! With Katara on the loose, I fear for our children's safety!!"

"Father, I will help you to defend our family," Inume decided.

"I'm sure you will, Inume. You'll be so helpful. You might actually not get in my way!" InuYasha said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Inume scowled and stormed away.

"Inu, perhaps you were too harsh on her," Kagome said to her husband. "She's just a girl, and she's not as brave and stong as you are. You need to cut her a little slack."

"You think I'm being HARD ON HER???!!! At her age, I was defeating panther-demons and battling with dragons!! It's not MY fault she's a weakling!" Inuyasha shouted.

"Oh, are you saying it's MY fault she's weak?" Kagome screeched back at him.

"YES!! It is YOUR fault! She's even worse than a hanyou!! She's, she's a...a....a HALF-hanyou!!" Inuyasha responded. His temper was overloading.

"Well, I contributed a few things. At least she's SMART and NICE!!!" Kagome retorted.  
Inume came back in.

"Father, mother, please stop shouting! Are you angry about me?" the girl asked.

"I'm sorry, Inume," Inuyasha apologized (a/nI know it's out of character for him lol). "It wasn't nice of me to say those things."

Inume nodded. "It wasn't nice. You're right. But they're true. I'm nothing but a weakling. I could never measure up to you, father. Maybe the new baby will be stonger. Then they can protect us all from the evil Katara. But from now on, I will train harder than ever"  
Inume leaned close to her father and whispered in his ear, "Father, there's nothing I want more than to be like you. You're the best father in the world!"

Inuyasha hugged his daughter and said, "I know you can be as good as me. I trust you. I know you can be strong!"

Inume smiled joyfully. 


	4. The Baby Girl

Chapter 4 - the baby girl

(At this time, the new baby, whom they have named Kagoyasha, is 6 months old)

"Father," Inume shouted, "A hoard of demons are charging up our mountain!!"

"What?! Why?!" the girl's father, InuYasha, responded.

"I think Katara sent them!" Inume answered.

"Grab Kagoy(asha) and run away! Take Tetsaiga and the Shikon jewel with you!" InuYasha commanded his now 13-year-old daughter.

"No, father, I won't leave you and mother alone!" Inume screamed.

"Go on! Protect your brother and yourself at all costs! You must live on! You are our only hope to defeat Katara, and something tells me you'll need your brother, and he'll need you. He is, after all, untrained, even if he does obviously have more demon blood in him. I know you're still weak, but I have faith in you!!" InuYasha ordered his daughter.

"Alright, father, I'll go." Inume replied sadly. She lifted up Kagoy in her arms, wrapped in a large kimono, and ran down the far side of the mountain. All she had was her kimono, her cloak, the Tetsaiga, the Shikon jewel, and her helpless baby brother. She heard her mother scream, but still she did not turn back. She ran on and on, into the night, crossing canyons and fording rivers, until dawn came and she was too tired to continue. She put her brother on a soft bed of ferns (he was sound asleep) and she lay down under her cloak. She lay awake for a while, with the same question running through her head. Over and over she wondered, but she couldn't figure out an answer.

She said it aloud, asking her sleeping brother, "What's so important about you and me, that our parents gave up their lives for us?" Kagoy drooled a little, but he didn't answer. Inume didn't expect him to answer. Finally, she fell asleep.

Inume woke up in the morning, cold and hungry. She gathered up her few belongings and hoisted Kagoyasha onto her back. She set off at a brisk pace. The sun rose higher in the sky, and the siblings reached a forest. She remembered her father once telling her,  
"Be careful in forests. They are home to many dangerous demons. Wolf demons, pather demons, fox demons, hawk demons...all these and more live in forests. The woods are a dangerous place, Inume. It's best not to enter them alone."

Inume considered her options, then proceeded into the forest. She wondered if she was being brave or foolish, doing something this dangerous. She pretended like she was a brave warrior, like her father Inuyasha, and that she had her mother's miko powers. But even this fantasy couldn't rid her of the fear that was growing inside her. The foliage in the trees blocked much of the sunlight, making Inume feel downcast. She had no trouble seeing, after all, she had his father's eyes. She could see as easily at night as she could during the day. But the darkness still oppressed her. She was relieved, but also nearly blinded, when she entered a small clearing. The noon sun shone down on her, bright in her eyes. Her brother, Kagoyasha, started to cry.

"Shh...there, there, Kagoy, the sun won't hurt you," she comforted him.  
That was when she noticed that they weren't the only ones in the clearing. Sitting not 10 feet away on a log, was a boy. He was staring Inume, not moving or blinking.

"Hello," Inume said to him. "My name is Inume. Who are you?"

He told her, "I'm...I'm Sangiroku. You can call me Sangi if you want"  
Inume stared at his eyes. They were startling green. And he was SO handsome! She felt a strange fluttery feeling, and her heart was racing. Yes, she knew his name, but who was this young boy? He appeared to be around 12 years old; just a little younger than Inume.

"Where are your parents?" Inume asked him.

"They're dead," he answered bluntly.

"Oh! I'm sorry to hear that! I fear my parents may also be dead. How did yours die?" Inume said.

"An evil demon named Katara killed them both. She murdered them with her pack of wolf-demons," the boy answered her. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

Inume's heart froze. "What?" she gasped. "Katara and her wolf-demons? That's exactly how my parents died!! My father told me to run away. I took my baby brother and ran."

"I see mine isn't the only life Katara has ruined," Sangiroku said.

Tears started streaming down Inume's face. Inume sat down beside Sangiroku and leaned against him. She rested her head on his shoulder and cried. Meanwhile Sangiroku was feeling something entirely different. Rather than sadness, or even pity, he was actually fighting an internal battle.  
"Mother told me NOT to grope...but I want to! No! Mother told me not to! But I want to"  
Inume finally stopped crying, and she gazed at Sangiroku with glittery eyes.

"Sangi, would you like to come with me to kill Katara?" Inume asked the boy.

"Oh, Inume, I wish I could. But how could two kids and a baby even hope to defeat someone as powerful as Katara?"

"Because I have the Shikon Jewel and my father's sword, Tetsaiga! I am the daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome!" Inume shouted proudly.

Sangi gasped. "What a strange coincedence! My parents were...." 


End file.
